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Faces of Fire

by Michael Jan Friedman

- Book Review (1991)

This latest book by the prolific Michael Jan Friedman, though set halfway through the Enterprise's five year mission, is a sort of "prequel" to "The Wrath of Khan" and "The Search for Spock", working backwards from the established people and events from those films and combing this "history" with a neat double plot of diplomatic gamesmanship on one hand and guerrilla warfare against a ruthless enemy on the other.

The Enterprise, en route to Alpha Malurian on an urgent mission to establish peace between two warring religious factions, pauses to check on the progress of a terraforming-research colony on Beta Canzandia Three - a colony whose research team includes a certain Carol Marcus and her young son.

Spock elects to remain at the colony to help with an intractable and "fascinating" problem that has arisen in their research, while the Enterprise continues on. Soon after the Starship departs a Klingon vessel arrives at the colony, wanting the experimental G-7 device the scientists are working on, a prototype for a device that may one day enable entire habitable planets to be created from lifeless worlds. Aboard the Klingon ship is a certain second officer... named Kruge.

The two main plots that comprise the bulk of the hook are well-handled and gripping, with a seemingly insoluble political conundrum for Kirk and the others to solve - a problem that at first seems almost amusing but soon leads to dangerous confrontation and the threat of death for Scotty and Kirk - and an equally difficult situation for Spock, forced to fight for the lives of the colonists against a well-armed Klingon raiding force, his only allies..children. The resolutions of both these plots are original and satisfying. All the regular characters are believably drawn and the dialogue rings true.

But the real interest of the book is its sub-plot and the clever establishing of early relationships between the main protagonists of "The Search for Spock", relationships developed and strengthened in that film. Here we see the moment when Kirk learns of David's existence for the first time, and learn the reason why Carol Marcus asked him to stay away during David's adolescence. We also learn the real reason for David's later hatred of Kirk and all that he and Starfleet stand for. This, particularly is psychologically believable and deeply ironic at the same time. Kruge, too, is excellently rendered (at times you can almost bear Christopher Lloyd's rasping voice) and events shown in this book reveal much about why he is so driven to possess the Genesis device in "The Search for Spock" - Klingon honour is a powerful motive, and humiliation can lead to an obsessive need to revenge oneself on one's enemies. The Klingons generally are well-used, Friedman managing the difficult task of blending the wily schemers of the original series with the rather more "brutish" Klingons of the first few Trek movies. Indeed, the book is begun and ended by the "framing" device of an intrigue among the highest Klingon nobility, an intrigue which has a powerful - if indirect - effect on the events of the story and provides a rich and complex web of background for the Klingon characters. The title of the book too is derived from ancient writings of the Klingon's most famous emperor, Kahless:

"Darkness will fall, Enemies will circle us round and round, their swords as numerous as the trees of the forest. But we will wear faces of fire".

In general then, a good read, both for its entertaining plot and as an interesting depiction of motivating events in the lives of several people who were to go on to play important roles in the future Star Trek mythos.